Why Alabama could be on upset alert in opening weekend of NCAA Tournament

Coming into the NCAA Tournament, expectations are high for head coach Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide, who earned a four-seed. However, looking at the early matchups that Alabama is going to face, it seems like the Crimson Tide could be on upset alert.

While making an appearance on Andy Staples On3, James Fletcher explained why he’s concerned about Alabama in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

“I have Alabama losing in the second round to Saint Mary’s,” James Fletcher said. “That’s what I’ve got in my predictions, and I feel pretty confident in that because of what Nate Oats said after they were eliminated from the SEC Tournament. He compared this team to the Alabama team, which had a bad defense last, which of course was the one that went out against Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after having a lot of hype around their offense.”

The Crimson Tide are coming into the NCAA Tournament after losing three of their last five regular season games before getting beaten in the SEC Tournament by the Florida Gators. During that stretch, Alabama has allowed at least 81 points in every game and allowed more than 100 points in three of those losses.

Those issues on defense are something that Nate Oats will need to fix, otherwise making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament likely isn’t in the cards for Alabama.

“You’ve got to be able to play defense to win in the NCAA Tournament and they have just not shown an ability to do that. Like you said, I think they survive Charleston. I think they’re able to get through that first round. It might get ugly. It might not be the prettiest game, but I think that a team that has scored over 100 points multiple times throughout the season, a lot of times against these smaller schools. I think they’ll be able to just outscore Charleston if nothing else,” Fletcher said.

“But, if we don’t see a turn on the defensive end of the floor in that game, I do think they’re in serious danger of losing to either Saint Mary’s or Grand Canyon, whoever advances on the other side of the bracket.”

Alabama will open against Charleston on Friday, March 22nd at 7:35 p.m. With the game being in the West region, it will be played in Spokane, Washington. Going into the game, Alabama opened as a 10.5-point favorite to win the game.